Refugee transfer laws pass Parliament in blow to Government

Bill passes to transfer sick asylum seekers to Australia

The West Australian

VideoThere have been fiery scenes in parliament after a bill to transfer sick asylum seekers to Australia was passed by one vote.

Scott Morrison has slammed Labor's decision to combine with the Greens and crossbench MPs to pass new laws making it easier for doctors to order medical evacuations of detainees held in offshore processing facilities.

After tonight’s historic loss on the floor of Parliament, Mr Morrison said Opposition leader Bill Shorten did not have the “mettle” to protect Australia’s borders.

“What happened in the Parliament tonight was proof positive that Bill Shorten and the Labor Party do not have the mettle, do not have what is required and do not understand what is necessary to ensure that Australia's border protection framework and broader national security interests can be managed by the Labor Party,” he said.

“The Labor Party and the Liberal and National parties are not on the same page when it comes to border protection. There is no bi-partisanship on this issue.”

Despite the embarrassing defeat, 75-74, Mr Morrison said he had no concerns crossbench MPs would now act to bring down the Government in a motion of no confidence.

“If the Labor Party want to move such a motion, they should feel free to do so and it will fail. How do I know that? Because the Independents have made that very clear. So it cannot be contorted into that type of an outcome,” he said.

Mr Morrison the bill would encourage people smugglers to return to the waters.

“My job up until now has been to prevent those bills passing and those bills have gone through the House of Representatives. My job now is to work with our border protection and security agencies to do everything in my power to mitigate the damaging impact of what Labor have done tonight.”

“The Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs are meeting now with our Border Protection Command to work through the contingency planning that we have been putting in place for this outcome. This outcome was not unexpected to me and, as a result, we have been putting contingency planning in place and I'll have more announcements to make about the actions and decisions the Government will be taking to address now the risk and the threat that Labor and Bill Shorten have created.”

Earlier, Attorney General Christian Porter warned the proposed bill was unconstitutional, as it was a spending bill originating in the Senate, after Labor amended the laws to explicitly say the panel of doctors judging medical transfers would not be paid.

Despite days of pressure from the Government, Labor was backed by six crossbench MPs to inflict a series of procedural defeats on the Government, culminating in the passage of the legislation tonight.

The legislation will not become law until it again passes through the Senate, most likely tomorrow, and when it is agreed by the Governor General.

Mr Morrison told Parliament the legislation, although intended to be humanitarian, was likely to lead to the return of people smugglers on the water in Australia’s north.

“I remind them that their humanitarianism, as supposed, last time led to child deaths. It led to the total destruction of our borders,” he said.

Opposition leader Bill Shorten told Parliament the bill was simply a matter of ensuring Australia met its obligations to people held in its care.

Mr Shorten acknowledged the final amendments were not all of what crossbench and Greens MPs wanted, but said it was a reasonable compromise.

“I believe we can keep our borders secure, we can uphold our national security, but still treat people humanely,” he said.

Labor frontbencher Tony Burke said the Opposition did not see this matter as a confidence motion, saying it was purely focused on passing the bill as it stood rather than bringing down the Government.

But he warned Mr Morrison that if the Government made good on muttered threats it would not send the legislation to the Governor General, if it is passed by the Senate, Labor may reconsider its position, describing the threat at “extraordinary”.